Megha Majumdar – författare

A girl walks through the slums of Kolkata holding an armful of books. She returns home smelling of smoke, and checks her most prized possession: a brand-new smartphone, purchased in instalments. On Facebook, there is only one conversation.#KolabaganTrainAttackOn the small, glowing screen, she types a dangerous thing…‘If the police didn’t help ordinary people like you and me, if the police watched them die, doesn’t that mean that the government is also a terrorist?’Set in contemporary India, A Burning is the story of three unforgettable characters, all dreaming of a better future, whose lives are changed for ever when they become caught up in the devastating aftermath of a terrorist attack.  Jivan – a poor, young, Muslim girl, who dreams of going to college – faces a possible death sentence after being accused of collaborating with the terrorists.Lovely – an exuberant hijra who longs to be a Bollywood star – holds the alibi that can set Jivan free, but telling the truth will cost her everything she holds dear.PT Sir – an opportunistic gym teacher who once taught Jivan – becomes involved with Hindu nationalist politics and his own ascent is soon inextricably linked to Jivan’s fall.Taut, propulsive and electrifying, from its opening lines to its astonishing finale, A Burning confronts issues of class, fate, prejudice and corruption with a Dickensian sense of injustice, and asks us to consider what it means to nurture big ambitions in a country hurtling towards political extremism.A Burning is a novel for our times and for all time.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026A GUARDIAN ‘BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2026’OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICKTIME MUST-READ BOOKWINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTIONFINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE‘Majumdar evades the narrative clunkiness that inevitably attends attempts to explain India to the west. This frees her up not only to tell a story of universal moral interest, but also to deliver a perceptive account of specifically Indian anxieties.… A Guardian and a Thief dramatises, to superb effect, the Indian elite’s great fear: a world in which they are forced to share’ Guardian‘Nothing goes to plan in this ­propulsive black farce which ­combines ­vertiginous plot twists and a persuasive doomy atmosphere with a terrific spin on the moral hypocrisy of the Indian middle classes.’ Daily Mail‘Gripping… [It] is an impressive novel. Pages suffused with ambient menace also accommodate tenderness’ Spectator‘An indictment of this moment and a timeless parable about the lengths we go to for love and self-preservation, written in exuberant prose - this is a novel that will burrow its way into your soul and remain there forever’ Tahmima AnamNAMED A NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, NEW YORKER, WASHINGTON POST, NPR, ATLANTIC, TIME, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, NEW YORK MAGAZINE, ELLE, KIRKUS, BOOKPAGEMegha Majumdar’s electrifying new novel, following her acclaimed New York Times Bestseller A Burning—longlisted for the National Book Award—is set in a near-future Kolkata, India, ravaged by climate change and food scarcity, in which two families seeking to protect their children must battle each other—a piercing and propulsive tour de force. In a near-future Kolkata beset by flooding and famine, Ma, her two-year-old daughter Mishti, and her elderly father Dadu are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma’s husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After procuring long-awaited visas from the consulate, they pack their bags for the flight to America. But in the morning they awaken to discover that Ma’s purse, with all the treasured immigration documents within it, has been stolen.Set over the course of one week, A Guardian and a Thief tells two stories: the story of Ma’s frantic search for the thief while keeping hunger at bay during a worsening food shortage; and the story of Boomba, the thief, whose desperation to care for his family drives him to commit a series of escalating crimes whose consequences he cannot fathom. With stunning control and command, Megha Majumdar paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of two families, each operating from a place of ferocious love and undefeated hope, each discovering how far they will go to secure their children’s future as they stave off encroaching catastrophe.A masterful new work from one of the most exciting voices of her generation.‘A true literary achievement… Majumdar creates a tense and deeply compassionate portrait of desperation, fear and the combined selflessness and selfishness of parenthood… Detail is the strongest thing in A Guardian and a Thief. It conveys the nuances of not only love but also wisdom… a true joy to read.’ New York Times

For readers of Tommy Orange, Yaa Gyasi, and Jhumpa Lahiri, an electrifying debut novel about three unforgettable characters who seek to rise--to the middle class, to political power, to fame in the movies--and find their lives entangled in the wake of a catastrophe in contemporary India.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026A GUARDIAN ‘BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2026’SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTIONOPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICKTIME MUST-READ BOOKWINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTIONFINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE‘Majumdar evades the narrative clunkiness that inevitably attends attempts to explain India to the west. This frees her up not only to tell a story of universal moral interest, but also to deliver a perceptive account of specifically Indian anxieties.… A Guardian and a Thief dramatises, to superb effect, the Indian elite’s great fear: a world in which they are forced to share’ Guardian‘Nothing goes to plan in this ­propulsive black farce which ­combines ­vertiginous plot twists and a persuasive doomy atmosphere with a terrific spin on the moral hypocrisy of the Indian middle classes.’ Daily Mail‘Gripping… [It] is an impressive novel. Pages suffused with ambient menace also accommodate tenderness’ Spectator‘An indictment of this moment and a timeless parable about the lengths we go to for love and self-preservation, written in exuberant prose - this is a novel that will burrow its way into your soul and remain there forever’ Tahmima AnamNAMED A NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, NEW YORKER, WASHINGTON POST, NPR, ATLANTIC, TIME, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, NEW YORK MAGAZINE, ELLE, KIRKUS, BOOKPAGEMegha Majumdar’s electrifying new novel, following her acclaimed New York Times Bestseller A Burning—longlisted for the National Book Award—is set in a near-future Kolkata, India, ravaged by climate change and food scarcity, in which two families seeking to protect their children must battle each other—a piercing and propulsive tour de force. In a near-future Kolkata beset by flooding and famine, Ma, her two-year-old daughter Mishti, and her elderly father Dadu are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma’s husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After procuring long-awaited visas from the consulate, they pack their bags for the flight to America. But in the morning they awaken to discover that Ma’s purse, with all the treasured immigration documents within it, has been stolen.Set over the course of one week, A Guardian and a Thief tells two stories: the story of Ma’s frantic search for the thief while keeping hunger at bay during a worsening food shortage; and the story of Boomba, the thief, whose desperation to care for his family drives him to commit a series of escalating crimes whose consequences he cannot fathom. With stunning control and command, Megha Majumdar paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of two families, each operating from a place of ferocious love and undefeated hope, each discovering how far they will go to secure their children’s future as they stave off encroaching catastrophe.A masterful new work from one of the most exciting voices of her generation.‘A true literary achievement… Majumdar creates a tense and deeply compassionate portrait of desperation, fear and the combined selflessness and selfishness of parenthood… Detail is the strongest thing in A Guardian and a Thief. It conveys the nuances of not only love but also wisdom… a true joy to read.’ New York Times

LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2026A GUARDIAN ‘BOOK TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2026’SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTIONOPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICKTIME MUST-READ BOOKWINNER OF THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN FICTIONFINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE‘Majumdar evades the narrative clunkiness that inevitably attends attempts to explain India to the west. This frees her up not only to tell a story of universal moral interest, but also to deliver a perceptive account of specifically Indian anxieties.… A Guardian and a Thief dramatises, to superb effect, the Indian elite’s great fear: a world in which they are forced to share’ Guardian‘Nothing goes to plan in this ­propulsive black farce which ­combines ­vertiginous plot twists and a persuasive doomy atmosphere with a terrific spin on the moral hypocrisy of the Indian middle classes.’ Daily Mail‘Gripping… [It] is an impressive novel. Pages suffused with ambient menace also accommodate tenderness’ Spectator‘An indictment of this moment and a timeless parable about the lengths we go to for love and self-preservation, written in exuberant prose - this is a novel that will burrow its way into your soul and remain there forever’ Tahmima AnamNAMED A NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, NEW YORKER, WASHINGTON POST, NPR, ATLANTIC, TIME, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, NEW YORK MAGAZINE, ELLE, KIRKUS, BOOKPAGEMegha Majumdar’s electrifying new novel, following her acclaimed New York Times Bestseller A Burning—longlisted for the National Book Award—is set in a near-future Kolkata, India, ravaged by climate change and food scarcity, in which two families seeking to protect their children must battle each other—a piercing and propulsive tour de force. In a near-future Kolkata beset by flooding and famine, Ma, her two-year-old daughter Mishti, and her elderly father Dadu are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma’s husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After procuring long-awaited visas from the consulate, they pack their bags for the flight to America. But in the morning they awaken to discover that Ma’s purse, with all the treasured immigration documents within it, has been stolen.Set over the course of one week, A Guardian and a Thief tells two stories: the story of Ma’s frantic search for the thief while keeping hunger at bay during a worsening food shortage; and the story of Boomba, the thief, whose desperation to care for his family drives him to commit a series of escalating crimes whose consequences he cannot fathom. With stunning control and command, Megha Majumdar paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of two families, each operating from a place of ferocious love and undefeated hope, each discovering how far they will go to secure their children’s future as they stave off encroaching catastrophe.A masterful new work from one of the most exciting voices of her generation.‘A true literary achievement… Majumdar creates a tense and deeply compassionate portrait of desperation, fear and the combined selflessness and selfishness of parenthood… Detail is the strongest thing in A Guardian and a Thief. It conveys the nuances of not only love but also wisdom… a true joy to read.’ New York Times